Tag Archives: Al Sands

Post navigation

….August 10, Seven Clans Casino, Thief River Falls, MN – Rez PromotionsDetails are limited but it looks like the main event will be heavyweight Charles Goodwin of Bemidji vs Mahoud Aburia. The co-feature has Van Goodman taking on John Moxey in another heavyweight bout. Michael Faulk also see’s action.
August 16, Grand Casino, Hinckley, MN – Rapacz PromotionsThe Return of the 3 Musketeers as they were known as kids, Jason and Allen Litzau plus Antonio Johnson fight on the same card. Plus Aaron Green, Rob Brant vs Harley Kilfian, Brad Patraw vs Dusin Mason, David LaQue and more.September 6, Grandma’s Sports Garden, Duluth, MN – Jungle Boy BoxingAl Sands headlines against TBA plus a 10 round bout featuring Johnny Garcia [16-1] vs Gilbert Venegas [12-9-2]. Amateur boxing will kick off the night.September 13, Minneapolis Convention Center, Mnpls, MN – Seconds Out PromotionsGolden Caleb Truax returns fresh off a dominant ESPN performance to take on tough boxer Osumanu Adama in the nights main event. Also, the state lightweight title rematch between Tony Lee and Jeremy McLaurin. The two slugged it out for 8 rounds and came out with a draw last June.September 21, Wildcats Hockey Arena, River Falls, WI – Peek -A- Boo PromotionsPro-Am boxing action brought to you by former boxer Boyd Davis.September 28th, Anoka Armory, Anoka, MN- Valhalla Combat SportsValhalla Combat Sports Gym is promoting a boxing card which features Stephen Watt taking on Cheyene Ziegler. Damion Hill and heavyweight MMA fighter Brad Scholten are also on the card. There will be 8 fights in all.

August 16 brings boxing back to Hinckley, Featured will be Jason Litzau taking on Robert Osiobe, Robert has spoiled some home fighters days! Robert Brant takes on Harley Kilfian who is going back to a better weight after bulking up to fight Al Sands and as expected going from 165 to 193 was too much. Brant is moving from the 150 to 168 for the catch-weight. Very interesting in our opinion. Bravo should be able to outbox Kilifian, and has spent plenty of time at the high 160′s. Dustin Mason and Brad Patraw is years in the making, looking forward to that one. Nice work by matchmaker, Cory Rapacsz, for getting it done. Green should be able to walk through Stacy Frazier who has lost 10 of his 11 last fights, most by early stoppage. All in, could be a fun little show.

September 6 brings another Jungle Boy Boxing show. Its a pro am with three pro fights, two debuts and Al Sands… After Sands called out John Moxey, who was already under contract to fight on a different show, he and his manager barged into Joe Lorenzi’s gym while Joe was teaching a kids class and offered him a contract. Guess they don’t believe in going through promoters and managers. Joe had already given his word to fight Sept 13. But the bright side. TJ Gibson said he would let Sands try and redeem himself from his TKO loss at the hands of Gibson (1,4) on September 6. Also, both Moxey and Lorenzi have said they would love to face Sands after their obligations and are free in October. Jungle has Black Bear Casino date mid October. Also, don’t forget Phil Williams has said he’d take on Sands any time.

T-Rex has pushed Sept 13 due to too many fights and monster weekend of boxing, never easy decision, but probably a wise one with a very full September.

September 13, T-Rex Promotions, featuring Andy “Kaos” Kolle, Winston Anderson, Joe Lorenzi, and possibly Gary “Stone Cold” Eyer. More details as they come. The Promoter, RJ “T-Rex” Laase is in the middle of negotiates for a fight of his own.

September 21, Seconds Out Promotions, The return of “Golden” Caleb Truax after his incredible ESPN appearance taking out Don George with relative ease. Also featured Jeremy McLaurin vs Tony Lee two. They last fought to a draw and the 135 belt stayed vacant, don’t expect that this time. Rumors have some more very exciting fights on tap for this card.

This past Friday Seconds Out Promotions put on some nice competitive fights. 2 draws! Unfortunately I was on vacation and did not catch the action live. But from reading and seeing some video, Phil “The Drill” Williams can be in any fight if he sets his mind to it. Corey Rodriguez was in another war. What a warrior. Joey Abell took out Maurenzo Smith in 2, Aaron Green went a full 6 for a UD win, winning every round.

Dustin Mason vs Brad Patraw has been added to the card. Nice fight! Card as it stands today on boxrec. Also Harley Kilfian vs Rob Brant at middleweight. Very interesting match-up.. Brant giving up some weight and Harley coming back to middle after fighting Al Sands at Cruiser. I believe Sands was 198 for that fight. I have to say, very intriguing. Follow MNBoxingLeague on facebook.

As fans of boxing in Minnesota, we usually have to cringe a bit when Atlas speaks of our state and fighters. I think Caleb Truax and Seconds Out Promotions showed ESPN, Atlas, and the nation not all shows are build jobs.. Unfortunately the top to bottom competitive fights of a couple weeks ago are just a memory.. The weekend brings us a Jungle Boy Boxing promoted card full of why Teddy Atlas calls Minnesota an easy place to build a record. Here is the full card.

Cerresso Fort (16,1,1) vs Marcus Upshaw (15,9,2) is a nice fight… Fort coming off his first loss, and this gives him an opportunity to take care of the draw he had with Upshaw last time they met…

Gary Eyer (11,2,1) vs Robbie Cannon (12,8,2) Eyer is always fun to watch but should not be challenged by Cannon who has not seen a W since 2009. Cannon’s boxrec.

Al Sands (9,1) vs Justin Howes (13,4) Howes has lost 4 of his last five fights and is 36 years old. It could be a step up from what Sands has had in the past. But Howes did not make it out of the first round in his last fight and 2 of the other 3 losses came in the first and second rounds… Look for another quick night for Sands… Howes boxrec.

Black Bear Casino is reported to be putting a lot of money into Jungle Boy Boxing promotions… A big budget offers an opportunity to see some really fun and competitive fights. There are a couple on this card, In the Fort fight as well as Hubbert’s, but the intrigue kind of stops there. Some people like to know who is going to win before a fight. I prefer to find out at the fights.. I think that is where Mr. Teddy Atlas is coming from.

Boxing overload the last few weeks!! Surgery, Summer, Huge fights, caused for needed break after last Friday’s huge Minnesota boxing night! We have stayed busy on our Facebook page… Follow MNBoxingLeague on facebook. We still plan on writing about “Golden” Caleb Truax’s huge win last Friday.. But want to catch up on what is coming up…..

Zach Walters and Jungle Boy Boxing has a show July 6…. Couple decent fights on the card. Cerresso Fort (16,1,1) vs Marcus Upshaw (15,9,2) has the most meaning. Fort coming off an ESPN loss in his last bout, and Upshaw giving Sir Fort his one draw. Look for Fort to take care of business. The most exciting and fan friendly fight of the night will be Gary “Stone Cold” Eyer (11,2,1) vs Robbie Cannon (12,8,2)… Eyer knows how to please the fans an we expect nothing less this time around. Ismail “Sharp Shooter” Muwendo is in a nice test. Al Sands (9,1) faces Justin Howes (13,4)… Howes is coming off a first round TKO and we expect a similar outcome here. Again, hoping Sands’ is ready for some real action in the near future… Justin Howes boxrec.

July 26 Seconds Out Promotions has another show planned featuring Phil “The Drill” Williams vs Derrick Findley. Also said to be on card are Joey “Minnesota Ice” Abell, Vincente Alfaro, and more…. Side note, Phil Williams made it very clear Friday, he would also love to step up in weight and grab the cruiserweight belt form Al Sands…

After announcing boxing legends Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes would be appearing at Jungle Boy Boxing’s Event, it turns out that will not be the case…. Zach Walters claims to have had verbal commitment but there were conflicts in dates… Here is link to story.

The card still has a couple decent fights. Gary Eyer’s should be entertaining. Fort vs Upshaw is still a pretty decent match-up, more so coming off Fort’s loss on ESPN in April. No opponent is listed for Al Sands three weeks out. Interested if they think he is ready to step up competition…

Former Heavyweight champs, Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes are being brought in by Zach Walters to help with his July 6th promotion featuring, Cerresso Fort, Gary Eyer, and Al Sands… Sands will not be defending his title as he will be fighting an out-state opponent yet to be named…. Here is WDIO’s coverage… WDIO coverage.

Generally warm weather in Minnesota slows down the boxing scene. Not looking like that is the way this summer is going to go. 2013 has already blown 2012 out of the water in terms of great fights and fight cards. Seconds Out Promotions return along with a couple nice shows by RDS and T-Rex Promotions have produced great action, high profile fights, and some great top to bottom cards. Follow MNBoxingLeague on facebook.

Vand (left) Truax (right) Courtesy Jesse Kelley, MinnesotaBoxing.com

Seconds Out Promotions will be topping its own card “Truax/Vanda” when they join Warriors Boxing to bring in ESPN “Friday Night Fights” with Truax in a televised bout vs Don George June 21. The undercard is packed with fan friendly fights and a nice state title fight.

Jungle Boy Promotions has July 6 set and it will feature Cerresso Fort in his first fight back after his April 19 loss on Friday Night Fights… It doesn’t look like he is interested in coming back soft either. Gary “Stone Cold” Eyer, fresh off his thrilling fight and victory over Blake Franklin, will be defending the strap won last month. Al Sands will also be featured in what is said to be a step-up fight. Marcus Morris will be making his pro debut.

July/August have three to four different cards being discussed. This is boxing, and it will be interesting what shakes out beyond July 6….

Among Minnesota’s boxing fans, those that don’t just follow hometown heros, and those who look deeper than what a promoter or promotion tells them, have had mixed feelings about Minnesota’s new ranking system and processes for becoming a state champ. Ever since the “State Champ” came back into play with Zach Walters winning and defending his state title one time over 5 years, while several quality and most think favored fighters were avoided. The only state title given any credit had been at middle weight. The middles seemed to understand sport/sportsmanship in their competition, giving each worthy foe an opportunity to challenge to see who REALY is the best at a given weight. Vanda, Bonsante, Kolle, Truax, all fought each other. Some a few times…

Mr. Walters decided abusing the belt system would be great to start up his new promotion by creating and naming his own title challengers, causing the Minnesota Boxing Commission to step in and try to set up a system of rankings and rules for winning and defending state titles. This should be and probably will be a good thing for local boxing and helping promotions to challenge their fighters and make for better fights for the fans and for the growth of what for many years has been known as a farm league for guys on the rise elsewhere…

The problem, not all weight classes have active boxers. Walters and Sands took full advantage of the rules and bought themselves a belt! (winning it by beating a guy who had not boxed since 2010 and is now (2,2)…) Nothing new here, those in Minnesota have seen this act come out of Duluth for 10 years… If it works, don’t break it! Unless of course you’d like to compete on a national level against worthy opponents. Duluth, MN will probably be at Jungle Boys feet no-matter the facts, but it hurts those trying to go about boxing in a sporting fashion… Do we want to promote bullying? Does Duluth want to be the new home of pro wrestling? There has been a good reason Minnesota on the whole has distanced themselves from Duluth fighters and “belts without meaning.” Okay, Okay, rant finished. But statements that Al Sands and Jungle Boy Walters have made about taking on the best and cleaning out the state are a farce unless of course you live in Duluth MN….

This brings us to a real title State title fight…

On the undercard of “Golden” Caleb Truax (21,1,1) vs Don “Da Bomb” George (24,3,2) June 21… Seconds Out Promotions and Warriors Boxing is bringing a stellar undercard featuring what we feel is a legit Minnesota State boxing championship… Tony Lee (7,1) vs Jeremy McLaurin (10,5) for MN 135 pound strap… This is the sort of fight I am sure Minnesota’s commission and rankers had in mind when setting things up. Both Lee and McLaurin have been in tough, with McLaurin getting a wide UD over Duluth’s Gary Eyer.. Along with that, both Lee and McLaurin have fought and impressively defeated Joel Flores and went one and one with Hector Orozco…

I think Minnesota’s top promoters will do their best to handle the states belt system with respect and most things will come out in the wash. The beauty of boxing, if you step up, you will find out where you truly stand… No matter how much protection received from promotion and managers…

Below is Minnesota’s official rankings for May, beside is how we see it… (ours do not follow same guidelines… main difference, is since we don’t have the amount of boxers as many boxing mecca’s, we use those who have fought in a weight.)

Agree for the most part with list… Rob Brant and Tyler Hultin could be in consideration…. Meier fights Hultin June 21 and could shake things up if they don’t hit 154. (We fully expect Meier/Hultin to be at light-middle 154)

To those wondering about Orozco being ranked ahead of Laase… They fought twice, the first fight was at welter, with Orozco winning close SD… When Laase won by UD to avenge loss they fought at Junior Welter… I think 3 through 5 are interchangeable at this time.

Again, pretty set in stone list. Just like lightweight, lots of interesting fights here.

Featherweight 123 – 126

1. Jeremy McLaurin 2. Gary Eyer 3. Hassan Wasswa 4. Jonathan Perez

5. Nate Seelye

Another tough weight to judge and really not ready for title.. Not sure if some of these guys will see this weight again.

Jr. Featherweight 119-122

State Champ. Vicente Alfaro

1. Antwan Robertson 2. Brad Patraw 3. Jake Backus 4. Brad Herroff

There are two more weight classes that serve as a mix of above fighters.

One thing to look forward to is that under Minnesota boxing’s new rules “champs” will have to defend their titles or prove there was not an opportunity to do so. ( may be easier said than done)…. Like we have said from the beginning we do believe the negatives will shake out and there will be weak divisions. It’s our hope that the Minnesota boxing commission may learn from the Al Sands vs St Clair fight, that just because they have 5 guys, does not mean a title is warranted. It’s too late now, but the bright side is that Walters and Sands may end their fear of an actual fight and try and avenge the brutal beating Gibson put on Al Sands before he went on the give-me tour. Phil Williams, TJ Gibson, Joe Lorenzi could all make for nice fights and help undo some of the damage Promoter/Manager Walters has done to MN boxing.